A couple months ago, I was out cutting grass with a 6' finishing mower. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple day of cleaning up and finishing the yard. I went to make a turn and the finishing mower bottomed out and I noticed it was not being held by the 3 point hitch. I raised and lowered the controls and very little action. So i drug the Mower over to the shed and put it away and pulled the tractor over to the barn and started checking everything out. I drained the fluid wich was full. I pulled the fluid filter out and it was clean. I checked for any fluid leaks and there were none. So, as you can be sure I was getting aggravated. I refilled the system and bled the lines. I took out a screw on one of the blocks that holds the lines in to side of the control box and no fluid came out but a couple of drips. As the aggravation kept growing I decided to crank it with the screw out. This was a mistake. Fluid started pouring out of the screw hole. Now I'm covered in fluid and topped out on aggravation. I'm getting frustrated. I know that if the fluid was pouring out of this hole then the pump should be good. Correct? I have since removed the lines, pump and screen/filter. I have checked for air in the lines and everything else that i can think of. I'm in need of some more experienced hand. As hard as it is to ask for help sometimes I would kindly appreciate any help you have to offer.

Come to find out, the orfice in the touch control box was unscrewed. Took the battery box out of the way. Then removed all 14 bolts of the head plate. Orfice fell out which concerned me. So i cleaned it even though it didnt apear dirty. Screwed it back in and reassembled it. Filled the resevoir and bled the system. Cranked the old girl up and instant hydraulics. Thanks for all the help guys.